Thursday, May 17, 2012

Conflict of Interest Among the "Very Serious People"

From Think Progress, this disturbing tidbit about a conference this week in DC:

NBC’s David Gregory To Headline Conference For Major Republican Advocacy Group

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which calls itself “the voice of small business,” is one of the Republican party’s strongest allies. The group spent over $1 million on outside ads in the 2010 campaign — all of it backing Republican House and Senate candidates (and, Bloomberg News reported last month, “another $1.5 million that it kept hidden and said was exempt” from disclosure requirements). The group is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Obamacare law and bankrolled state governments’ challenges to the law. The NFIB has also taken stances against allowing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases, opposing regulations on businesses, and supporting curtailing union rights.

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics states:

Journalists should:— Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.— Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.— Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.

This confirms to me what I have always suspected: Mr. Gregory is a tool. What passes for journalism among the Very Serious People of DC is pathetic. They are afraid to ask the tough questions for fear of losing access to the rich and famous.